Ilia Topuria Takes Aim at Belal Muhammad: ‘He’s a Bum’ and a ‘Walk in the Park’ to Defeat
When it’s all said and done, Ilia Topuria plans to become the UFC’s first-ever three-division champion.
Earlier this year, ‘El Matador’ climbed to the top of the featherweight mountain via a second-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298. Now, Topuria will attempt to solidify himself as the division’s top dog when he puts his gold up for grabs against one of the most accomplished strikers in UFC history, Max Holloway.
Topuria vs. Holloway will headline this Saturday’s highly anticipated UFC 308 card emanating from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
Though he’s staring down the barrel of his inaugural title defense on MMA’s biggest stage, Topuria is already plotting to bring two more belts home to Spain over the next few years.
“Probably a three-weight world champion, this is my goal,” Topuria recently told TNT Sports. You’re not going to see me in the welterweight division like this, skinny. You’re going to see me differently. That’s the goal. Move up to the lightweight division, get that belt, then move up to the welterweight division.”
Ilia Topuria has zero respect for ‘Bum’ belal muhammad
Currently, the welterweight crown resides with Belal Muhammad who captured the title via a mostly dominant performance against Leon Edwards in Manchester. But despite his solid performance, ‘Remember The Name’ has garnered little respect from fighters and fans alike.
During another fight week interview, Topuria suggested that if Muhammad is still the champion by the time he’s ready to make the move up to welterweight, adding that piece of gold to his collection will be a walk in the park.
“If Belal remains champion, it’s a walk in the park,” Topuria told KOI Menero MMA. “It would be a walk in the park for me to go up and win the welterweight title. But walk in the park [yawns]. That’s it. He’s a bum. Really really bad. A champion who hasn’t finished anyone hasn’t had knockdowns. What kind of champion are you? This morning I woke up and saw him say, ‘If I see [Topuria], I’m going to slap him.
“It’s like everyone has a street, gangster attitude. Sometimes I wonder what they’re doing fighting in the UFC and dedicating themselves to a pro sport. It seems that they are all gangsters and clowns, who later don’t want to look you in the eyes. You know, someone who’s really capable of doing something wouldn’t tell you. They won’t even bark. He even wants to beat me by decision. I’ll give you a slap man, shut up” (h/t Sherdog).
Muhammad is scheduled to defend the welterweight title on December 7 when he meets unbeaten finisher Shavkat Rakhmonov in the UFC 310 main event. As it stands, Rakhmonov is an almost 3-to-1 favorite to leave Las Vegas with the 170-pound crown wrapped around his waist.
